Purim and Serendipity

How to find God.

It’s a question I’ve often been asked. Many times people turn to me as a Rabbi and in all sincerity ask “How can I find God?”

I tell them it really isn’t all that difficult. All they have to do is turn serendipity into Purim and they’ll realize the answer.

Permit me to explain.

Serendipity is a fascinating word that a British lexicon company recently voted one of the 10 hardest words in English to translate. Dictionaries define it as “a fortuitous happenstance” or “a pleasant surprise.” Wikipedia tells us “The notion of serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of scientific innovation such as Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin in 1928, and the invention of the microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1945, to name but a few.”

Serendipity refers to those moments that simply don’t make sense from a statistical perspective

In our personal lives, serendipity refers to those moments that simply don’t make sense from a statistical perspective. We desperately need to speak to someone we haven’t seen in a decade, have no idea how to contact him and out of the blue he suddenly calls on a totally different matter. We are in a panic because there’s some information we have to know and amazingly discover it’s in the very book we just happened to pick up by accident. And then there’s my friend who was distraught because he missed a plane connection and found himself on the next flight seated next to a remarkable woman who it became clear to him soon enough was his soul mate.

The word serendipity merely describes these “fortuitous happenstances;” it does not explain.How is it that the impossible happens so often, that the inexplicable plays such a frequent and prominent role in our lives?

The answer is the key to Purim, and its message enables us to find spiritual meaning in the seemingly irrational events of our lives.

The Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God once. It is a story filled with coincidences, implausible turns of events, improbable incidents which follow one upon another in a crescendo of ever more unlikely happenings which together bring about the downfall of the enemy of the Jewish people intent on genocide.

Mordechai and Esther would appear to be the hero and heroine of this almost unbelievable tale. Yet we know that it was God who engineered it from on high and to whom the Jewish people continue to offer praise for this remarkable miracle.

Where was God? He masked His presence in the guise of serendipity – which to this day is commemorated by Jews around the world through the significant custom of masquerading on Purim.

Purim is the holiday where God’s presence can be detected if we are sensitive enough to the Divine clues as He leads us through our daily lives. It is the holiday which the sages of the Talmud tell us is the only one destined to last throughout our history, even though all the other holidays commemorate far greater obvious and open miracles. Why is that? Because God prefers for us to find Him rather than to vividly impose the reality of His existence upon us.

Serendipity is God whispering to us; it is His still small voice that beckons us to be aware of His presence.

Every one of us has inexplicable “Purim moments” that bring God into our awareness in order to make sense of the strange happenings that befall us.

God’s Whisper to Me

One of the most memorable experiences of my life demonstrated this truth to me. On a trip to Eastern Europe to visit the places where my ancestors lived, as well as the concentration camps where much of my family perished, I spent one Sabbath morning in a synagogue in Warsaw where I was fortunate to be one of the seven called up for an aliyah.

It is the custom for the people given an Aliyah to publicly make a pledge of a donation for the synagogue. As I concluded my blessings, I was emotionally overcome by the realization of where I was and how many great Jewish leaders must have preceded me standing at this very spot, and I felt the need to make a generous contribution. But I hesitated because I didn’t want to appear like a rich American tourist who is shaming all the other honorees whose contributions were limited by their poverty.

As a compromise, I decided that a pledge of $36 would be just about right – enough to be meaningful as a gift and not exorbitant as an expression of ego. No sooner was the pledge announced than there was an audible gasp from the congregants. It seems that $36 was quite a fortune in the currency of Polish zlotys. The president quickly came over to me, asked where I was staying, and if it would be all right for a committee to come to my hotel immediately after the Sabbath to collect this generous donation. Of course I agreed, and within five minutes after the Sabbath ended, a committee of three appeared in the lobby and asked me to make good on my pledge. I happily gave them the money and felt very pleased that I had the merit of being able to perform a good deed, a mitzvah.

My wife and I then wondered what there was to do to while away a few hours on a Saturday night in Warsaw. The concierge told us there was a casino on the premises and that was about the only activity available to us.

I hit the jackpot, and I quickly kept filling bucket after bucket with my winnings.

New to gambling, I stopped at the very first slot machine and, on a lark, deposited one coin. What followed was indescribable. Lights flashed, gongs went off, people around the room stopped what they were doing to see what had happened. I stood amazed as money kept pouring out of the machine. It seems that I hit the jackpot, and I quickly kept filling bucket after bucket with my winnings. I immediately decided that I must have used up my share of good luck for that night, and I went to cash in my winnings.

The cashier put all the coins through her counting machine and finally came up with a total. The sum she told me was staggering, and for a moment I thought I was almost a millionaire. What I had forgotten was that the amount she told me was in Polish currency, zlotys. Anxiously, I asked her, “What does that come to in American dollars?”

After some quick calculating, she replied, “Oh, about 36 American dollars.”

For years I had preached that whatever we give eventually comes back to us. But this time God made it so abundantly clear that my contribution was rewarded by its exact equivalent.

God wanted me to know with certainty His ongoing presence in the very place where the descendants of Haman sought to destroy His people. To do that, He left a clue that was unmistakable. And that is what He continues to do in so many different ways if we are wise enough to understand them. Because we don’t really have to struggle to find God. He is as anxious to find us – if not more – and strengthen our relationship with Him.

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About the Author

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a frequent contributor to Aish, is a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, and lecturer. Author of 14 highly acclaimed books with combined sales of over a half million copies, his newest, The World From A Spiritual Perspective, is a collection of over 100 of his best Aish articles. See his website at www.benjaminblech.com.

Visitor Comments: 6

(5)
David Abrams,
March 15, 2014 10:53 PM

Very beautiful statement continued.

When this woman was in college, she desperately needed $14.25. She looked on the ground where everyone was busily walking by and not noticing anything, and there was $14. She had 25 cents. So suddenly God provided her just exactly what she needed. She has gotten through many terrible tragedies, always feeling the help of God's inexplicable continuing presence in her life.

(4)
Tova,
March 14, 2014 6:39 PM

Absolutely true!!!

This story doesn't surprise me. Once I had to help one of my ..very close to my heart to became a Jew, bless her heart. I didn't have any money but I never thought twice.There was airline ticket involved so I spent about $750. Believe it or not a week later a got the check from insurance company, they overcharged me and you quess..$750!!!! Hashem is watching over us, just try to do the right and really important things. Happy Purim.

(3)
Matthew Wolsk,
March 13, 2014 5:42 PM

Beautiful beautiful story

Wow, what a wonderful story. I would have a hard time believing if it weren't for the fact that these types have things have occured to me as well as many occassions, most of them in my last seven months living in Israel!

(2)
Henry Wiltschek,
March 12, 2014 5:43 PM

God is always with us

If we admit it or not, God is always with us,even if things go terribly wrong ( according to us ) there is still a reason unbeknown to us. If all our wishes would be fulfilled, we wouldBe in a far more terrible mess. No matter what happens we have to trust God and keep believing in him. The worst experience is a lesson to make us stronger as a mensch.

(1)
Michal,
March 11, 2014 9:45 PM

It is true. Got speaks to us

Why are there still people who can't find God? I have some friends, good an nice women, who tell me all over again, that they do not believe anything. One of them is Jewish. When they are talking about it, they seem closed in themselves and even angry. Often it reminds me of the saying: "Where is God? - Where we let him in." They somehow do not want to really be open for God. I do not know why. -

Henry Wiltschek,
March 12, 2014 5:49 PM

People try to cry out for God when in trouble

It happens alway to people - who never think of God or needHim - only when there is no way out and don't Have the answer - they try find God in a Hurry

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

With stories and insights,
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